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A few weeks after the grand ceremony in style to present Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid is already back at work but more than 6,000 kilometers from the Spanish capital. Indeed, Carlo Ancelotti and his players are preparing to play several friendly matches on American soil against AC Milan, FC Barcelona and Chelsea, before challenging Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup final. But for the moment, the Merengues must work without several players still on vacation, including their new French star. Nevertheless, like any friendly preparation, these golden posters against big European teams will remain a good way to give initial indications to the many questions. And questions, the Spanish journalists who follow Real Madrid on a daily basis have a lot of them at press conferences.
Present in the United States for a major summer tour, Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti was highly anticipated at a press conference on Tuesday, a few hours before the gala friendly match against AC Milan in Chicago. The 65-year-old tactician first sent a message about the transfer window: “The transfer window is closed. Vallejo is back, Alaba is recovering. We have the youngsters: Joan, Jacobo and Raúl Asencio. There are no sales because everyone wants to stay. The truth is that I am not worried. Because we have a spectacular squad in all positions. As I said, we do not have much time to prepare for the first games, but the players will return in shape. They have a program that starts 15 days before their arrival. The most important thing is to rest. The full squad returns on the 7th“With the arrivals of Kylian Mbappé and Endrick, as well as the contract extension of Luka Modric, the Merengues seem to have finished their summer shopping and Carlo Ancelotti can already think about his rotation and his system.
No gifts for Kylian Mbappé
Paris Saint-Germain fans can testify to this. Managing Kylian Mbappé has not always been easy during his Parisian adventure. Between players unofficially pushed out by the Bondy player, the big affair of the “Pivot Gang”, his desire to be lined up in the center forward position as number 9 and his influence on Parisian recruitment, PSG has given Mbappé a lot of gifts. But in Madrid, everything will be different and Carlo Ancelotti has already warned. He will not change his system for the Frenchman, it will be up to him to fit in. Why change a winning recipe? : “I think the system we are going to use can be a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2. It doesn’t matter, this year we did the same thing. We have all the players in the team have resources to play in different ways. We have the idea of defending well and repeating what we did well last year. The Super Cup is a bit far away and we are focusing on the players we have now. We have a very good team like that, even if there are still players on vacation“, Ancelotti said, responding to a journalist’s question, wondering where the French player will be lined up, while Real Madrid has many attacking assets with Vinicius, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler and Endrick.
In an immensely long season with a grueling schedule of 72 games to play, during which Real Madrid will participate in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and also the new long format of the Club World Cup, the Merengues staff will have to manage their key players as best they can by often resting them to spare them, something that Kylian Mbappé will have to accept, while his use was a problem at PSG with Luis Enrique. The French striker later even claimed that it was one of the sources of his malaise at PSG. In Madrid, he will have to hold his own and accept the decisions: “The season can be long, I hope it is. That’s what we want when a season starts, to be competitive. We don’t have a specific physical plan, because it’s very difficult to think of a physical plan when you play every three days. We have always reached the end of the year very well and this season, I think it will be the same. We have to think about individual breaks, so as not to exhaust the players. The season has been fantastic. We have been able to create a good team spirit, overcome injuries. They have forced us to improve our collective spirit“, explained Ancelotti. Patience and order, welcome to Real Madrid Mr. Mbappé!